Notes tagged “Payoff”

2025

• Jun 3
  Four observations in response to Nathan Baugh on story twists To write good twists, bury details in a ‘sandwich,’ deliver the payoff just in time, surprise your audience with the method or degree of your payoff, and don’t ‘explain the joke.’

  6 min

2023

• Aug 27
  Red herring plotlines and satisfying plot twists Storytellers can build satisfying payoffs by using beats from a visible plotline to lay the foundation for a second, hidden plotline

  4 min
• Aug 26
  The realm of appropriate payoffs The best story payoffs match the setup while being better than expected.

  5 min
• Aug 24
  Optimal difference maximizes story payoffs The best story payoffs are neither too similar nor too different from audience expectation.

  3 min
• Aug 12
  Deus ex machina and the soul of a satisfying story ending To be most satisfying, payoffs in stories should be set up physically, morally, and thematically.

  10 min
• Jul 23
  Storytelling, neuroscience, and the rule of three: prediction and reward The most satisfying execution of the rule of three hooks into your audience’s brains’ reward systems by perfectly fulfilling the promise of the setup, but doing it in a way that subverts their expectations.

  9 min